U.S. patent number 7,174,857 [Application Number 11/270,941] was granted by the patent office on 2007-02-13 for animal control device.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Anthony L. Lord. Invention is credited to Anthony L. Lord.
United States Patent |
7,174,857 |
Lord |
February 13, 2007 |
Animal control device
Abstract
Devices and methods for controlling an animal are disclosed. An
animal control device includes a retractable leash assembly for
being mounted to a collar or other harness. The retractable leash
assembly has a retractable leash that is extendable from and
retractable back to the collar via the retractable leash assembly.
The retractable leash assembly includes a spool in a housing. The
retractable leash is adapted to be wound around the spool in a
retracted mode, and extendable from the spool in an extended
mode.
Inventors: |
Lord; Anthony L. (Los Angeles,
CA) |
Assignee: |
Lord; Anthony L. (Los Angeles,
CA)
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Family
ID: |
37215499 |
Appl.
No.: |
11/270,941 |
Filed: |
November 10, 2005 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20060236956 A1 |
Oct 26, 2006 |
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Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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11115084 |
Apr 25, 2005 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
119/794; 119/863;
119/856 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A01K
27/001 (20130101); A01K 27/004 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A01K
27/00 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;119/712,769,770,789,792,794,856,857 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Nguyen; Son T.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky
and Popeo, P.C.
Parent Case Text
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a divisional and claims the benefit of priority
under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.120 of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/115,084,
filed Apr. 25, 2005, entitled ANIMAL CONTROL DEVICE, the disclosure
of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Claims
The invention claimed is:
1. An animal control device comprising: a harness comprising two
collars, each collar having opposite ends; and a retractable leash
assembly comprising: a housing having a disk-shaped case; two pairs
of connectors, each pair of connectors extending laterally from
opposing sides of the housing, each connector for being connected
to one of the opposite ends of the harness; a spool latitudinally
mounted in the disk-shaped case and including a plurality of
detents arranged around an outer edge of the spool; a retractable
leash connected to the spool through an opening in the disk-shaped
case, being wound around the spool in a retracted mode, and being
unwound from the spool and extended from the disk-shaped case in an
extended mode; and a leash release mechanism laterally disposed
over the spool, having a pin that is insertable into and removable
from one of the plurality of detents, and having a button that is
integrated with the housing to control the pin.
2. An animal control device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the
housing includes: a top case mounted together with a bottom
case.
3. An animal control device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the
retractable leash assembly further includes a spring for biasing
the spool to the retracted mode.
4. An animal control device in accordance with claim 3, further
comprising a spring arbor disposed in the center of the disk-shaped
case, and wherein the spring is coiled around and connected to the
spring arbor at a first end and connected to an interior of the
spool at a second end.
5. An animal control device in accordance with claim 1, wherein at
least one of the connectors includes a male or female clip member,
and wherein the associated end of the collar includes a
complementary clip member to the male or.
6. An animal control device in accordance with claim 1, wherein at
least one of the connectors includes a slat that is threaded by the
associated end of the collar.
7. An animal control device in accordance with claim 1, wherein
each connector includes a slat that is threaded by the associated
end of the collar.
8. An animal control device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the
release mechanism respectively locks the retractable leash in, and
releases the retractable leash from, the retracted mode or the
extended mode.
Description
BACKGROUND
Many animals, such as dogs, cats or other pets, and even humans
such as children, can be submitted to human control by a leash held
by a user. Conventionally, an animal is provided with a collar or
other strapped device, and a leash is attached to the collar when
used to control the animal, and detached and stored on its own when
unused.
Leashes are available in a variety of sizes and types. There are
chain leashes, strap leashes, and cord leashes. Some leashes extend
and retract from a hand-held device. However, conventional uses of
leashes require that the leash be detached from an animal when not
in use, leading to a possibility that the leash may be misplaced or
lost, or that it is not available at certain critical times.
SUMMARY
This document describes devices and methods for controlling an
animal. In one aspect, an animal control device includes a
retractable leash for being connected to and extendable from a
collar.
In another aspect, an animal control device includes a retractable
leash assembly for being mounted to a harness and having the
retractable leash. The retractable leash assembly may include a
housing and a spool in the housing. The retractable leash is
adapted to be wound around the spool in a retracted mode, and
extendable from the spool in an extended mode.
In yet another aspect, an animal control device includes a collar,
and a retractable leash assembly mounted to the collar. The
retractable leash assembly has a retractable leash that is
extendable from the collar and retractable back to the collar via
the retractable leash assembly. The collar may be part of a
harness.
These aspects yield several advantages, including not having to
detach a leash from a harness or collar of an animal, and/or store
the leash separately when not in use. The details of one or more
embodiments are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the
description below. Other features and advantages will be apparent
from the description and drawings, and from the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other aspects will now be described in detail with
reference to the following drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an animal control device in accordance with one
embodiment.
FIGS. 2A 2D illustrate various components of a retractable leash
assembly according to an exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 3 shows an alternative animal control device and collar
arrangement.
FIG. 4 shows an animal control device with one or more
connectors.
Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like
elements.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIG. 1 shows an animal control device 100 in accordance with one
embodiment. The animal control device 100 includes a collar 102
that is sized and adapted to be secured around an animal, and
preferably the animal's neck. The animal could be a dog, a cat, a
horse, a rodent, or other animal. The collar 102 may be formed of
an elongated strap of a particular length, and include a securing
mechanism 103 such as a buckle, clasp, snap, Velcro, or other
mechanism to secure one end of the collar 102 to the other end. The
collar 102 may be made of nylon, leather, plastic, metal, or any
other suitably resilient material. The collar 102 is one type of
harness that fits around a body part of the animal.
The animal control device 100 further includes a retractable leash
104 that is connected to and extendable from the collar 102. The
leash 104 is connected with a retractable leash assembly 106
mounted on or otherwise connected with the collar 102. The leash
104 is disposed within the retractable leash assembly 106 in a
retracted mode, and extends from the retractable leash assembly 106
in an extended mode. Accordingly, the retractable leash assembly
106 allows the leash 104 to be extended from and retracted back to
the collar 102 or other harness to or on which the retractable
leash assembly 106 is attached or mounted.
In one embodiment, the retractable leash assembly 106 is connected
on opposing sides to the collar 102, in a configuration much like a
watch and watch-band. The leash 104 can include a handle 108, such
as a looped handle. The handle 108 can be connected to the leash
104 by a swivel connector 105, as shown in FIG. 1. Other
configurations are possible. The leash 104 may also include a stop
109 provided along a length of the leash 104 to inhibit further
retraction of the leash 104 into the retractable leash assembly
106. The leash 104 may range from 2 or less to 30 or more feet in
length, and preferably 4 to 20 feet in length. It should be
understood that the retractable leash assembly 106 can be provided
separately from, and configured to be connectable to any type of
collar 102 or harness.
An attachment mechanism 107 may be provided between the leash
handle 108 and the collar 102 for temporarily attaching and storing
the leash handle 108 against the collar 102 when the leash 104 is
in a retracted position, i.e. when not extended and/or not in use.
The attachment mechanism 107 can include Velcro, a snap, loop or
other attachment components. Accordingly, the animal control device
100 provides a collar 102 with an integrated extendable leash 104
that dispenses with the need to store a leash separately from a
collar, as well as the need to attach the leash to the collar each
time it is used.
FIGS. 2A 2D illustrate various components of the retractable leash
assembly 106 according to another exemplary embodiment. As shown in
FIG. 2A, the retractable leash assembly 106 includes a housing 200.
The housing 200 is preferably formed of a top case 202 mated to a
bottom case 204. A release mechanism 206, such as a button, switch,
latch or other mechanism, is integrated into the housing 200,
preferably in the top case 202. The release mechanism 206 is
adapted to release the leash 104 from an extended mode (i.e. when
the leash 104 is extended from the collar 102) to a retracted mode
(i.e. when the leash 104 is being retracted into the retractable
leash assembly 106 toward the collar 102). The housing 200 further
includes an opening 203 through which the leash 104 extends. The
opening 201 is preferably formed in the bottom case 204. The
housing 200 further includes a connection mechanism 201 for
connecting to or mounting to a collar or harness. The connection
mechanism 201 is preferably integrated with the bottom case
204.
As shown in FIG. 2B, the retractable leash assembly includes a
spool 208 disposed within the housing 200, which is preferably
positioned within the bottom case 204 and configured to rotate
about a central axis. The spool 208 is connected to and wound by
the leash 104, particularly in the retracted mode (not shown in
FIG. 2B), and from which the leash 104 is extendable in the
extended mode. The spool 208 can include a number of detents 210
provided on an outer edge 207 of the spool 208.
The release mechanism 206 includes a pin 211 that is insertable
into one of the of detents 210 of the spool 208 by user operation
of release mechanism 206 to inhibit rotation of the spool 208.
Removal of the pin 211 from one of the detents 210 releases the
spool 208 to allow further rotation. In one embodiment, the release
mechanism 206 includes a button or switch that, when activated
(i.e. pushed) by a user, allows the leash 104 to extend from or
retract back into the housing 200 of the retractable leash
assembly, and that when deactivated (i.e. released) by a user,
locks the leash 104 into its present length. Alternatively, the
release mechanism 206 can include a button or switch that when
activated (i.e. pushed) locks the leash 104 into its present
length, and that when deactivated (i.e. released) allows free
movement (extension or retraction) of the leash 104 relative to
housing 200.
FIG. 2C is a perspective view of the top case 202 of the housing
200, illustrating cooperation of the release mechanism 206 with pin
211 and top case 202. FIG. 2D shows the spool 208 in cooperation
with a spring 212 connected between the spool 208 and a spring
arbor 214 provided with the bottom case 204. The spring 212 is
preferably a coiled spring, and biases the spool 208 to the
retracted position. Accordingly, extension of the leash 104 from
the spool 208 increases tension in the spring 212, which tension is
fully or nearly fully released by retraction and winding of the
leash 104 back around the spool 208.
The connection mechanism 201 of the housing 200 can include two
slats 216 for receiving the collar 102 or other strap. In an
embodiment, the slats 216 are adapted to be threaded by the collar
102. Alternatively, each end of the collar 102 can be connected to
the slats 216.
FIG. 3 shows an animal control device 300 in accordance with an
alternative exemplary embodiment. The animal control device 300
includes a retractable leash assembly 302 that includes a number of
connection mechanisms 304 that connect to a body harness 307. The
body harness 307 is formed of one or more straps 308 or bands that
fit around certain sections of an animal. For instance, one of the
one or more straps 308 can be a collar. In the embodiment shown,
the retractable leash assembly 302 is connectable to two straps
308. The straps 308 can be formed of leather, nylon, a metal chain,
or other substantially rigid yet flexible material. Alternative,
the body harness 307 can be formed of a rigid material.
FIG. 4 shows an animal control device 400 having a retractable
leash assembly 402 that is adapted to be connected to a collar 403
or other strap via one or more connectors 405. In an exemplary
embodiment, the connector 405 may include a clip having a female
clip member 404 mounted to the retractable leash assembly 402 and a
male clip member 406 connected to the collar 403. Alternatively,
the retractable leash assembly 402 may include two male clip
members 406 or two female clip members 404, for connecting to a
complementary clip member of the collar 403. In still yet other
embodiments, the retractable leash assembly 402 can be mounted to
the collar 403 by a snap, buckle or any other connecting
device.
Although a few embodiments have been described in detail above,
other modifications are possible. Other embodiments may be within
the scope of the following claims.
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